A Hooffull Of Dust
by Mr.Mocko
Summary: Now night has fallen. Now fear is reborn. What do you aspire to, bright color of the sky? What happens when your adulation meets the gravity of truth...FIM
1. I Shot An Arrow Into The Air

_**A Hooffull Of Dust**_

Chapter 1: I Shot An Arrow Into The Air

_**There**__**'**__**s always something bigger, behind the veil**__**…**_

_Night had fallen again._

_A loaded word, that. Fallen. Dawn rose, night fell. You could apply negative connotations to each, but it seemed far easier with her tasks, her duties._

_She__'__d wanted so much that it would never come back to this. Not after the last time. Not after being given the hope._

"_But some things never change.__"_

_The pony looked down onto Equestria, her pale blue mane drifting in the wind, gazing at the peaceful night that blanketed its length. Her night. Her duties, resumed after so long._

_And__…__on this night, here she was again. Back to how it all started. And its inevitable end._

"_Celestia is kind. Celestia is good. Celestia is loved. And Luna__…__is Luna.__"__ Luna said, before swallowing hard._

_It was time. No sense putting it off. The other options, living like this__…__was unbearable._

_Her heart went cold, and her head became clear._

_Everything must be answered for._

_Everything._

* * *

><p>"Juice, juice, glorious juice!" Pinkie Pie sang, opening her fridge and rummaging around inside. Various fruits began to be tossed into the bag she was carrying, Pinkie not really paying attention beyond making sure they were all fruits. "It's like nature's soda! It's sweet and it's grand, but if it gets out of hand, it just becomes wet…and sticky!"<p>

That was the theme of the day's party: how wonderful juice was. It beat her last theme: the abstract concept of partying. That was what she got after joining Twilight for a book-reading sleepover. Not that it wasn't fun (all parties were fun!), but sometimes simpler was better!

Today, it would be about juice! Grape juice! Orange juice! And…of course, APPLE juice! Applejack would probably love doing a little experimenting with her namesake crop! Wouldn't she? Of course she would! Pinkie couldn't wait to get over to her ranch!

Literally, and so she did her Pinkie thing. She blinked there.

_I am Pinkie, I love fun, so little time to get it done, so when I__'__m needed in a flash, I get there faster then Rainbow Dash!_

So Pinkie did, in her special Pinkie way. One moment she was in her home, and the next she was next to an ever familiar cart.

"HI APPLEJACK!" Pinkie Pie said, springing around the cart. Her next hop abruptly ended as she was confronted with an unexpected sight.

The cart was 'unoccupied', in that Applejack was not pulling it. The wooden carriage was filled with apples, but Applejack herself was not there. Pinkie arched an eyebrow. Her Pinkie-Blink didn't usually bring her to a empty space. It brought her to her friends, wherever they were, whatever they were doing. It was useful when they were tempted to reveal secrets, or when she needed to really put the surprise in surprise party, or just when Pinkie felt the need to go see one of her friends right that second.

Well, everything had an off day. She was on Sweet Apple Acres after all…

…Which was quieter than a tomb.

The quiet struck Pinkie, just before she fully looked around. There wasn't a pony in sight.

But that was absurd. Applejack's giant family always had SOMEPONY in sight during the day (didn't they?). The farm was so big that it was practically necessary (Wasn't it?)…

Unless…

"THEY'RE ALREADY HAVING A PARTY!" Pinkie said to herself excitedly, hopping away from the apple cart, alongside the fence that lead to the ranch. Well, she was never one to not join in already existing festivities! A party was a party was a…

Silence. Complete and utter silence. As that fact re-sank into Pinkie, she began to wonder if a party could be so quiet. If the world, so full of life and its joys, could be so quiet…

Then she arrived at Sweet Apple Acres' main ranch proper. The door was not locked.

The building was also not occupied.

Pinkie stared, her surprise slowly turning into something duller and more potent. How could there be NO PONY HERE? Even if Applejack wasn't, there would be Big Mac, or Granny Smith, or Apple Bloom, or SOMEPONY! Applejack wouldn't leave her home and livelihood completely abandoned: she'd probably suffer apoplexy at the very concept.

"Applejack?" Pinkie called, running around the house, opening the doors, finding nothing but more empty rooms. "Applejack! Granny Smith! ANYPONY! HELLO? WHERE ARE YOU?"

A few minutes later turned up no more ponies. Pinkie Pie sat, trying to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. This was not normal. One of her friends was missing, not to mention her whole family. She would need help. She had to speak to Twilight, or maybe even the police. Had she ever spoken to Ranger Trotter? Maybe Twilight would be best. One Pinkie-Blink away…

Except there was no away. Pinkie found herself still on Applejack's ranch. In a way, this was as much of a first as blinking next to an 'empty cart'. The blink NEVER failed. It was her special trick, her ultimate secret. Twilight could teleport, but she needed to concentrate, and her travel was clear. With Pinkie, it was just here, and then there. It had always been that way…

Except now.

A trend that continued, as Pinkie tried furiously to get to Twilight's library and found herself stuck at Sweet Apple Acres. Again, and again, and again.

And all the while, the silence.

Eventually Pinkie found herself running, heading to Twilight Sparkle's library, trying to find her friend the old fashioned way. Her running did not last long, as she came to another realization.

She wasn't passing any ponies. The only sound of hooves she heard were her own. She could see no movement no matter which way she looked. The world was around her, but simply that. No sign of anything else.

She tried to ignore the empty streets. The silent houses. The absolute stillness. Until she slammed into Twilight's library…and found it as quiet and dead as Sweet Apple Acres.

No Twilight Sparkle. No Spike.

So it was everywhere, Pinkie Pie running herself ragged all over Ponyville. Rarity's fashion boutique: empty. Fluttershy's animal preserve: nothing. Rainbow Dash's cloud house: completely without motion. Eventually, Pinkie found herself barging into random houses, to find them as empty as the rest.

She did not remember when she started running to Canterlot. She did not recall precisely when she felt her hair go limp, and when her hooves began to crack under all the strain. All she knew was the need to go forward, to find somepony besides herself, to know what had happened…

Only to find Canterlot the same. Empty. Dead. Not a soul in sight. No pony, no animals, no bugs, nothing. Pinkie even made up to the royal palace, to find it silent and austere, like a holy shrine instead of where her princess lived, even that great pony gone, leaving naught but an empty throne.

It was when, wandering outside in a daze, Pinkie saw the fountain. Saw the water droplets floating in the air. Frozen in mid-fall. When Pinkie touched them, they moved, frozen solid specs, not ice but water still, locked in its droplet state.

A moment later, Pinkie realized that the sun had not moved an inch. Not since she'd arrived on the ranch.

Losing all her strength, Pinkie found herself sitting by the fountain. What had happened? Where was she? Where was everypony else? What had she…

_You think that being in one place one moment and elsewhere the next is natural? Even in a world of magic, do you believe that is something that can be done effortlessly? Even if you alone can do it? You think it will always end with you outside doors and appearing in buckets of sponges?_

"But…I…" Pinkie said to the thought that had finally formed. The terrible, terrible thought.

_It finally didn__'__t work. You__'__ve unstuck yourself from the natural progression of things. You__'__re locked outside now. No one knows where you are. No one knows how to reach you. You are now the queen, and sole survivor, of forever static. A party of one, that will never end._

"But…I can't have a party alone…" Pinkie Pie said. Once again, there was silence.

She tried to fill it with screaming.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! SOMEPONY! HELP ME! PLEASE, SOMEONE! SPEAK! ANYPONY! TWILIGHT! APPLEJACK! DASH! RARITY! FLUTTERSHY! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE! PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE! ANYONE! ANYPONY! ANY NOT-PONIES! ANYOOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEE! **I DON****'****T WANT TO BE ALONE!****"**

* * *

><p><em><strong>We<strong>__**'**__**re all alone in the end.**_

_**All alone**__**…**__**in the night.**_

_**Isn**__**'**__**t that right**__**…**__**MY friends? My dear outside witnesses to my return to glory?**_

_**Go ahead and scream. **_

_**She can**__**'**__**t hear you.**_


	2. The Nature Of The Beast

Chapter 2: The Nature Of The Beast

_To be a princess…is to not always be a pony._

_To be a ruler…is to not always be an honest horse._

_To be beloved and kind…means that sometimes masks must be worn. Lies must be told. Secrets must be kept._

_Some secrets __**had **__to be kept._

_So thought Celestia, in the times when she added to this book. The book enchanted to only be opened by her, whose words would only make sense to her. The few things she never could, and never would, reveal._

_The darkest evenings of the year._

_The soft spots._

_The weight of a crown, and what it could cost._

_How extraordinary bore no allegiance to morality. It could serve for the best…or worst deeds and desires._

_And the cruelest truths of all…_

_That extraordinary circumstances required extraordinary measures._

_And just what that could mean._

* * *

><p>She didn't mean it…<p>

_Fluttershy didn't know the last time she'd stopped to take a drink of water. The last time part of her body hadn't burned with stinging, wrenching pain. It felt like days, even though it couldn't have been two hours._

_The days had come before._

She hadn't thought anything when she'd found the raccoon in the steep ditch, the creature having worn its paws to bloodied trying to get out. Another animal that needed love and care. Another friend to make.

Fluttershy was not stupid. She knew, for the most part, how animals tended to react, depending on their experiences and circumstances. Sometimes they could show incredible kindness, but if put in a situation of distress, their innate natures tended to reign. Such 'innate' aspects could result in Fluttershy being hurt if she wasn't careful, so she'd recruited Twilight Sparkle's help. The unicorn had helped Fluttershy float the raccoon out of its trap and into a cage, and Fluttershy had given it water and food while trying to help it calm down. When it hadn't, Fluttershy had noticed its ragged breathing. Further studies had allowed her to see the black lines against the whites of its eyes, something she had not seen before due to the animal's enlarged irises.

_Venadissolucytosis. _Vein pox. Fluttershy had heard of it, once or twice, but her knowledge was limited to that, at the time. It was a disease that attacked both the heart and the red blood cells, slowly wearing down their capacity to absorb oxygen. This caused fatigue, muscle pain, high body temperature as the heart beat faster and faster to try and provide the body and brain with the oxygen it needed, and eventual heart failure. There was no cure, and no real treatment. Any animal that got vein pox was doomed to a drawn out death, the poor creature unable to understand why the body that had always worked for it no longer did so.

It broke Fluttershy's heart, but it did not break her resolve. No cure had even been found for the disease yet, she knew she was not going to be able to change that in the space of a few days. The general treatment, like rabies, was to put the animal down. To do something like that went against every single aspect of Fluttershy's nature. There had to be another way…

_More rustling overhead. Their tracking ability was lessened, but Fluttershy was covered in sweat, barely dried blood plastered to her form, more than enough to smell…_

The disease attacked the heart: the rest of the troubles came from the blood cells unable to properly process oxygen. Fluttershy would give the raccoon medicine rich in oxygen, as well as medicine to cool its fevered blood. Eventually, it would go to sleep and not wake up, and then she would call the veterinarian to help with proper disposal. If the animal's only fate was death, she would make sure it died peacefully by the disease, instead of deliberately causing its death. The rest was simple: vein pox was spread by saliva into open wounds. Fluttershy had kept the raccoon isolated from all her other animal friends as a matter of course. They were safe, and helped her in her treatment, as she tried to oversee it's passing…

How could she have considered it? She was a friend to all living things. She could not think of purposely killing one, no matter the reason. Nor could she let an animal suffer…

But there was a reason that raccoon may have ended up in the ditch, unable to climb free. Perhaps it may not have ended up there under its own power. Maybe the animals had known something she hadn't.

The general rate of death between contraction of vein pox and death was three weeks. Fluttershy had guesstimated that the raccoon had been sick, at best, ten days when she had found it. After another month, during which the raccoon was at peace, without pain of fear, the disease finally killed it.

That, however, had ceased to be the problem. Something far, far worse had come in its stead…

_She did not want to risk flying: she was far too easy a target in the air, exposed to sharper eyes and stronger wings than hers. She had to stay on the ground, keep moving, keep running…_

There was a reason vein pox was the disease it was. It was cruel, but it was swift. When an animal died, the virus died with it, trapped within a safe timeframe. Trapped within its nature.

Fluttershy had broken the rules. She had allowed the virus to continued to live and breed beyond its standard lifespan. Allowed it more cells to devour, allowed it to recognize its shortcomings…

Allowed it to change.

Vein pox was transferred by saliva to open wounds, almost always delivered by bite. None of the animals had gone near the raccoon's treatment 'unit', but plenty had come into the room to help Fluttershy however they could…

As the virus changed.

As it went from the blood…

To the breath.

Changed beyond that. Changed its target. The raccoon was too sick for the changes to really be noticeable, as vein pox went from attacking the heart to the brain. Began causing aspects of the animal to die, aspects that would ensure the target's longer survival while still giving the virus fuel for its replication…

Fluttershy's animal friends were not confined to her house. They had their own movements, outside of it…allowing them to infect their friends. And their friends to infect other friends. On and on…

_She heard the crashing, and she ran. She ran despite the pain in her lungs, her legs, and her heart. She ran because she knew if she didn't, worse would come to her. She'd seen it…_

The disease didn't affect ponies. An odd cruelty of chance. It mattered little. By the time Fluttershy realized something was wrong, it was too late.

By the time she'd tried to treat them, their minds were already going.

When Angel Bunny had spoken to her, eyes burning and mad, telling her it wanted blood…she'd tried to change it to confinement.

And when the sheer length and breadth of the infection exploded across Equestria, sweeping through Ponyville and beyond…Fluttershy had had no choice but to run. Run from the savage monsters all her friends had become. Run from the bloody feeding frenzy she'd made. Run as all the friends she had destroyed themselves and destroyed everything around them in turn.

_So she _ran, as the snarling deer and squirrels chased her, as birds dive bombed through the trees above, trying to locate the 'unnatural', as every animal stopped whatever it was chewing or tearing at to listen, and follow, the noise.

Fluttershy had always been the quiet sort. Now she had no choice. Her breath was needed for running.

Running a race she knew she'd lose.

Running from the screaming to come.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Run, little nurse. Run.<strong>_

_**You can never outrun your own good intentions.**_

_**You can never outrun the fear.**_


	3. Breakneck

Chapter 3: Breakneck

_She remembered that day well. The mess. The ruins. And amidst it all Luna, crouched down on her forelegs, her body marked with the evidence of one horrific night and its deeds._

_And the faint, ever so faint through all the pain and exhaustion…the smile._

"_I did it sister…"_

_Celestia had known, in her heart, that when her guards had reported of the scene from a distance, that she had to come alone. Looking at what Luna had done, she was now more glad than ever._

_This could never be revealed._

"_Sister…what did you do?" Celestia said, settling down next to Luna, trying to soothe her wounds._

"_It told me that it would get us all…told me I was nothing…but I showed it…I took care of it…I did good, sister…I did good…"_

_Celestria had no answer at that time. How did you tell your beloved sister the truth?_

_There was little good in what she'd done._

_Not in the way it really mattered._

_Not in the way of what would have to be done._

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash spent most of the time in the murk now. The murk that sometimes kept the pain away, at the cost of all sense.<p>

"_The head injuries are the most serious issue, of course. We managed to keep the swelling down, and we don't think it will recur."_

How long had it been? Since that day when she'd been arranging some boring cloud formations? She almost hadn't recognized the ponies out of costume. When she'd realized that Spitfire, Soarin', and Slipstream (whose name she had gotten from official fan documents, as the taciturn blonde pony was a horse of few words) had shown up to see her, she'd almost had a fangasm. The Wonderbolts! Seeking HER out! Well, technically at the time they were just normal ponies, as they were off-duty, but that was a matter of semantics and Rainbow Dash knew it. The Wonderbolts had actually gone LOOKING for her! Her dream was happening, out of the blue!

Well, as it turned out, not so much. Spitfire and co hadn't shown up to offer her membership. However, they hadn't just stumbled over her either. They remembered her from the Best Young Flyers Competition, and not just because she'd won the prize and gotten to spend a day with them. That day, however, had been somewhat regulated, as Dash had won a prize to spend a day with the WONDERBOLTS, and the Wonderbolts always had responsibilities (not like Dash had noticed). Soarin' even remembered her from the Grand Galloping Gala, though much to Dash's annoyance, it was mainly due to how much he'd enjoyed Applejack's pie. Such things were details, though; the trio had the day off, and had decided to track Rainbow Dash down and spend some of it with her. To Dash, it had seemed too good to be true…

"_Spinal injuries are minimal. There shouldn't be any permanent paralysis. They could be an overall weakness in some parts of the body, though we're not sure yet if that will be the case…"_

She'd tried to play it cool. Spitfire had wanted to talk some shop about flying, Rainbow Dash's preferences and dislikes about it. Rainbow Dash had done so to the best of her (admittedly somewhat limited) ability. For all she knew, she was participating in an unofficial job interview. Soarin' had mostly asked about Applejack (which Rainbow Dash put up with), and Slipstream was her usual quiet self, though she did ask Rainbow Dash one question in regards to the way Dash had rescued them, and Rarity, via the Sonic Rainboom. Dash couldn't even remember what the question had been about; something about _how _Dash had changed direction during the save. After the chat, Spitfire had invited Rainbow Dash to fly with them some and check out what the Wonderbolts considered the hotspots…

"_The main issue, of course, is the wings. Pegasi wing structure take after birds, and while not hollow, they're much like a dragon's hands, having a very delicate and specific setup…"_

The rest of the places they'd went were faded and unimportant. All Dash remembered was how well she seemed to get along with the Wonderbolts-as-ponies, even beyond her ambitions. When they'd ended up near the Everfree Forest, and Spitfire had made a challenge to the group, a test of flight skill and coordination, there were very few circumstances in which Rainbow Dash would have said no. Spitfire had produced a map, marked off a rough route to follow, made sure all of them knew how it corresponded to the forest below them, declared the winner would be whoever reached Point B firs, and then the four were off, diving into the forest and flying through it's dark confines…

"_I'm afraid the impact damage is simply too extensive. The bones won't heal properly. We were able to stave off amputation…"_

Rainbow Dash only remembered two things. Briefly seeing Soarin', and calling out to him in playful challenge, a challenge Soarin' had responded to, as they weaved through the trees. Dash had felt like she could go beyond sound at that moment, though she knew that a Sonic Rainboom within the forest would be beyond risky and was not needed. What she needed was coordination and awareness, the ability to dodge obstacles with the least amount of slowdown, cutting the best approximation of a straight line between the two points she had been given.

She…did not know much beyond that. Just one thing. The movement she had caught, in the corner of her eye. Said movement was the only sure thing. She could not remember if the color she'd seen was gold or orange. She could not remember if any words had been spoken, or any noise made.

She could not remember…if there had been any touch. Just the movement. Her last true recollection.

Then blackness.

The pain.

The murk.

"_There's nothing you can do, doctor?" The voice said. Twilight Sparkle. Dash had heard all her friend's voices, at one time or another, swimming out of the fog._

"_I'm afraid not, Miss Sparkle. Your friend will recover, but her wings will not. Not enough to allow her to fly, anyway. She hit the tree too hard; her wings literally got compacted between the wood and her body. In a way, that was fortunate; it lessened the cranial and spinal damage…"_

It…was over? Her wings were dead? She'd never fly again? No…

How did this happen…

How could it…

"_You need to go, Miss Sparkle. Miss Dash needs to rest. She has a long recovery ahead of her."_

"_We can come back tomorrow, right?" The second voice said, its cheerful tone muted. Pinkie Pie. She'd been there every time Dash could briefly pierce the murk…_

"_Yes, you can."_

Her friends. Her friends were always close at hand. Telling her their support. She could remember other voices. The doctors, the nurses…

But there was a voice she never heard. Not once.

She never once heard the Wonderbolts. They had stayed away.

But…

It couldn't be.

_Why would the Wonderbolts seek her out? How could she so abruptly lose control?_

_Could it be…that there was a limited amount of 'roles' available? Did her success endanger someone's spot? No…_

_Could…it all have been a mask? Could she have been lured into a trap, launched out of nothing but pure mal_

_NO. The Wonderbolts were…wonderful. They were respected. To fliers, they represented the ultimate prestige…_

_So what would happen if they were off flying with some amateur and an accident happened? What if one of their own caused the accident? And even if they didn't…_

_Even if ponies knew…_

_She'd thought she'd gotten to know them so well. In truth, all she knew was the surface. She had no idea what lay beneath…_

…_If anything did._

_So many possibilities…_

So Dash waited. Waited to hear their voices. To know the Wonderbolts cared.

Even though she suspected that, like her body…like her wings…

Her hopes were doomed to crash and burn.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Never meet your heroes, flyer.<strong>_

_**They are often far, far from what you dream them to be.**_

_**What THEY dream…may be your nightmare.**_

_**Ha ha ha ha…**_

_**Delicious.**_


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